MovieMonday.com - Flatliners with Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon

Techno Films

Flatliners (B+)

STARS...
Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, and Kevin Bacon.

PLOT SUMMARY...
College medical kids kill themselves, and come back, for kicks.

QUICK SCAN...
This film brings to mind "Altered States". Kiefer Sutherland is convincing as a med student, determined to find out what happens after death. Director of Photography, Jan De Bont, delivers vivid imagery during some of the after life scenes. Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) delivers a strong portrayal as a death challenging, future doctor.

DIRECTOR: Joel Schumacher
YEAR & RATING: 1990 (R)

BEST BETS:

Altered States

Dreamscape
SYNOPSIS...
At Columbia University, a medical student wants to know first hand what happens when you die. With the aid of fellow medical students he dies, then is brought back to life. He experiences a vivid scene from his childhood while dead.

Other medical students take part in these death and resurrection experiments. Soon, individuals they encounter, while dead, begin to pop up for real in their lives, causing all kinds of problems.

The medical students take action in the present to atone for their past sins, putting their deadworld demons to rest.

Review:

Director Joel Schumacher, with FLATLINERS, has created a drug-free "Altered States" for the MTV generation.

Kiefer Sutherla ("Young Guns", "The Three Musketeers"), Julia Roberts ("Pretty Woman"), William Baldwin ("Backdraft"), Oliver Platt ("The Three Musketeers"), and Kevin Bacon ("Tremors"), play Columbia University medical students. Kiefer Sutherland is a pretty curious cat. A tad morbid, he wants to find out first hand what happens when you die, or as he puts it, "Quite simply, to see if there's anything out there beyond death.," which is a reasonable enough question.

With the aid of his buddies, in a semi-abandoned wing of the medical school that's being restored, he has his body temperature artificially lowered, and then is given an injection of nitrus. Soon he's dead, with his heart and life support showing a flat line on the monitors, hence the title of the movie.

Before long we see what he sees. The camera soars over a huge, sunny field, filled with flowers. We see small kids with streamers in their hands, running, followed by a happy, bounding dog. As filmed by Director of Photography, Jan De Bont, the scene is like a vivid dream/memory of a perfect childhood day. The Music at this point, by James Newton Howard, sounds like a great, religious chorus, which compliments the visuals perfectly. This is my favorite scene in the movie.

As the other medical students struggle to bring him back to life, Sutherland's vision turns dark, and moody, and sinister. A dog barks loudly. A small boy stands in a hallway. The medical students finally get Sutherland's heart started, and are relieved when he comes back to life.

The other medical students take part in their own death experiments. None are quite as effective as Sutherland's original death vision, but all are interesting. Eventually, a small boy from Sutherland's death vision, and subsequent dreams, begins to show up in his real life, periodically attacking him and beating him up. He tries to keep these attacks secret, which he does for awhile.

Director S,chumacher, working from a literate Screenplay by Peter Filardi, weaves a modern day tale of sin and redemption. Most of the flatliner's visions, and the dead world, figures who follow them into their real lives and torment them, have something to do with bad actions the flatliners took against others. The idea that we might have to atone for our sins, and that this could lead to personal salvation, seems like a fresh and uplifting concept in the fast food/fast relationships me, me, me world we live in today.

The acting in this movie is uniformly good. Particularly effective are Keifer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, and Kevin Bacon, with Oliver Platt providing some needed comedy relief to the frequently intense proceedings.

Eugenio Zanetti makes the under restoration old university building, where the flatlining takes place, a fascinating, visual environment. We see giant stone heads on the floor, and magnificent Leonardo Da Vinci style murals on the walls. The fact that death and resurrection takes place in this environment makes perfect sense.

FLATLINERS should be highly watchable for any Sci-Fi fan with a pulse, and the dead may want to consider reviving themselves in order to see this movie. See you on the other side!

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Flatliners (B+)
	STARS... Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, and Kevin Bacon. PLOT SUMMARY... College medical kids kill themselves, and come back, for kicks. QUICK SCAN... This film brings to mind "Altered States". Kiefer Sutherland is convincing as a med student, determined to find out what happens after death. Director of Photography, Jan De Bont, delivers vivid imagery during some of the after life scenes. Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) delivers a strong portrayal as a death challenging, future doctor.
DIRECTOR: Joel Schumacher YEAR & RATING: 1990 (R) BEST BETS: Altered States Dreamscape	SYNOPSIS... At Columbia University, a medical student wants to know first hand what happens when you die. With the aid of fellow medical students he dies, then is brought back to life. He experiences a vivid scene from his childhood while dead. Other medical students take part in these death and resurrection experiments. Soon, individuals they encounter, while dead, begin to pop up for real in their lives, causing all kinds of problems. The medical students take action in the present to atone for their past sins, putting their deadworld demons to rest.
Review: Director Joel Schumacher, with FLATLINERS, has created a drug-free "Altered States" for the MTV generation. Kiefer Sutherla ("Young Guns", "The Three Musketeers"), Julia Roberts ("Pretty Woman"), William Baldwin ("Backdraft"), Oliver Platt ("The Three Musketeers"), and Kevin Bacon ("Tremors"), play Columbia University medical students. Kiefer Sutherland is a pretty curious cat. A tad morbid, he wants to find out first hand what happens when you die, or as he puts it, "Quite simply, to see if there's anything out there beyond death.," which is a reasonable enough question. With the aid of his buddies, in a semi-abandoned wing of the medical school that's being restored, he has his body temperature artificially lowered, and then is given an injection of nitrus. Soon he's dead, with his heart and life support showing a flat line on the monitors, hence the title of the movie. Before long we see what he sees. The camera soars over a huge, sunny field, filled with flowers. We see small kids with streamers in their hands, running, followed by a happy, bounding dog. As filmed by Director of Photography, Jan De Bont, the scene is like a vivid dream/memory of a perfect childhood day. The Music at this point, by James Newton Howard, sounds like a great, religious chorus, which compliments the visuals perfectly. This is my favorite scene in the movie. As the other medical students struggle to bring him back to life, Sutherland's vision turns dark, and moody, and sinister. A dog barks loudly. A small boy stands in a hallway. The medical students finally get Sutherland's heart started, and are relieved when he comes back to life. The other medical students take part in their own death experiments. None are quite as effective as Sutherland's original death vision, but all are interesting. Eventually, a small boy from Sutherland's death vision, and subsequent dreams, begins to show up in his real life, periodically attacking him and beating him up. He tries to keep these attacks secret, which he does for awhile. Director S,chumacher, working from a literate Screenplay by Peter Filardi, weaves a modern day tale of sin and redemption. Most of the flatliner's visions, and the dead world, figures who follow them into their real lives and torment them, have something to do with bad actions the flatliners took against others. The idea that we might have to atone for our sins, and that this could lead to personal salvation, seems like a fresh and uplifting concept in the fast food/fast relationships me, me, me world we live in today. The acting in this movie is uniformly good. Particularly effective are Keifer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, and Kevin Bacon, with Oliver Platt providing some needed comedy relief to the frequently intense proceedings. Eugenio Zanetti makes the under restoration old university building, where the flatlining takes place, a fascinating, visual environment. We see giant stone heads on the floor, and magnificent Leonardo Da Vinci style murals on the walls. The fact that death and resurrection takes place in this environment makes perfect sense. FLATLINERS should be highly watchable for any Sci-Fi fan with a pulse, and the dead may want to consider reviving themselves in order to see this movie. See you on the other side! MovieMonday.com * Super Star Index * Award Winners * CelebrityFrame.com